Arabinofuranosides from mycobacteria: synthesis of a highly branched hexasaccharide and related fragments containing beta-arabinofuranosyl residues.

The synthesis of 11 oligosaccharides (4-14) containing beta-arabinofuranosyl residues is reported. The glycans are all fragments of two polysaccharides, arabinogalactan and lipoarabinomannan, which are found in the cell wall complex of mycobacteria. In the preparation of the targets, the key step was a low-temperature glycosylation reaction that installed the beta-arabinofuranosyl residues with good to excellent stereocontrol.